Swastika painted on Mass. synagogue

WEST NEWTON, Mass., Nov. 16 (UPI) -- Congregants at Temple Shalom in West Newton, Mass., arrived at their synagogue this weekend to see a spray-painted swastika on the sign at its entrance.

The Boston Globe reported Sunday the swastika, the common symbol of Adolf Hitler's Nazis who took Germany into World War II and sought to wipe out Europe's Jewish population, was noticed Saturday.

Rabbi Eric Gurvis addressed the incident from the pulpit, the newspaper reported.

"We're preaching for openness, understanding, peace, justice and tolerance, and here is this act of injustice," he said in an interview. "Even if it was a prank, it's not funny. It's a hate crime."

Newton Mayor David Cohen said he went to the temple after learning about the vandalism from police.

"The Temple Shalom community has been wounded by this event," he said, "and it's important that we all stand together."

Gurvis said the reformist temple had not experienced similar problems in the decade he has been rabbi there. The president of the Massachusetts Board of Rabbis, Gurvis has called for racial and religious tolerance.